Folding mechanism for label sewing machines



June 18, 1963 K. HEDEGAARD 3,094,084

FOLDING MECHANISM FOR LABEL SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 17, 1961Sheets-Sheet 1 June 18, 1963 K. HEDEGAARD 3,094,084

FOLDING MECHANISM FOR LABEL SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 17, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet 2 ArroRA/Ey `neath the presser plate. vices must be heatedin order to preserve lthe shape of United States Patent O 3,094,084FOLDING MECHANISM FOR LABEL SEWING MACHINES Kristen Hedegaard, Gentofte,Denmark, assignor to G. M. Pfaff AG, Kaiserslautern, Pfalz, Germany, acorporation of Germany Filed Oct. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 145,565 Claimspriority, application Germany Oct. 18, 1960 8 Claims. (Cl. 112-104) Thepresent invention relates to sewing machines, more particularly tomachines for the sewing of labels, emblems, identification marks and thelike work pieces to a garment or other base of sewing material, and amajor object of the invention is the provision of simple and efficientmechanism for folding or reversely bending the edges of a label or thelike work piece prior to the commencement of a sewing cyole oroperation.

It has already become known in the sewing of labels or the like workpieces to utilize a work presser foot in the form of .a plate or framehaving a contour or outline conforming to the outline of the label to besewn and cooperating with a reciprocating needle in the ordinary manner,with further means being provided to operate said plate or frame,together with the work held thereby, through a path conforming to saidoutline, in such a manner as to stitch a seam along the edge of thelabel and to sew the same to the garment or other base of sewingmaterial.

In the operation of known label sewing machines of this type, it isdesirable or necessary to rst fold the edges of the labels and tosubsequently place or position the prefolded labels underneath thepresser plate or frame. For this purpose, the labels are either foldedby hand which method is bot-h time-consuming and requires special skillor experience, or, alternatively, the labels are pre-folded by the aidof a special `folding device. The use of such devices not only involvesadditional costs without relieving the operator from the cumbersome andtime-con suming aligning operations in positioning the labels under-Besides, the known folding dethe folded labels until the commencement ofthe sewing operation.

There are known other sewing machine constructions designed for theaffixing of labels and the like work pieces `to a base of sewingmaterial, whereby the labels are cut from a continuous strip by the aidof a cutting device and the separated units or pieces folded by the aidof a special folding device and held in the folded position by aspeci-al `clamp until after the termin-ation of the label sewingoperation or cycle. Stich devices, besides being highly complexmechanically, have the drawback that the labels can be folded only inthe downward direction, with the result that the sewing material must beplaced upon the folded units. As a consequence, the lower thread seambeing undesinable from `an appearance point of view, compared with theupper thread seam` of the conventional lock stitch sewing machine, willappear on the side of the sewn labels together with the cut end of thethread, aside from other drawbacks and defects of folding devices andmethods of -this type.

Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is theprovision of an improved folding device structurally and operablycombined with a label or the like sewing machine, whereby the labels orthe like work pieces may be positioned or aligned and folded eflicientlyand expeditiously prior to Ia label sewing operation or cycle.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a label or the likework piece folding device `for use in a label sewing machine and thelike by which folding or reversely bending of the edges of the labels iseffected by 3,094,084 Patented June 18, 1963 ice mechanical foldingmeans operatively embodied in the 'sewing machine, in such a manner asto ensure the sewing of the labels uniformly and with a minimum ofdependence upon the personal factor or operating skill.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a label foldingdevice of this type operably embodied in a label sewing machine, wherebyto reduce the number of manual control operations :to a minimum 4in theinterest of increasing the efficiency and reliability of the labelsewing oper-ations.

Other objects of the invention are the provision of a mechanical labelor work folding device of the type referred to and structurally embodiedin a label sewing machine,.which is both simple in construction as wellas efficient and reliable in opera-tion; which can be operated byunskilled labor safely and expeditiously; and which may be readilyembodied in or combined with existing label sewing machine and the likeby which folding or The invention, both as to its ancillary objects andnovel aspects, will be better understood from the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings formingpart of this specification and in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of a label sewing machine yembodyingfolding mechanism constructed in accordance with Ithe principles of theinvention, the` position of the folding elements as shown corresponding-to the position :upon termination of a folding operation with thefolding template and clamp being retracted to its inoperative positionprior to the commencement of a label sewing operation;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the sewing machine shown by FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a partial view showing the front of the label folding deviceembodied in FIGS. l and 2 in the raised or inoperative position of thework presser foot or plate of the machine, and with the work piece orlabel being inserted between the presser foot and folding template;

FIG. 4 is a further partial view simi-lar to FIG. 3 and showing theposition of the lfolding clamp in the operative position with the workpiece or label being reversely bent around the edges of the foldingtemplate; and

FIG. 5 is a partial view also similar to FIG. 3 and showing the positionof the folding clamp atV the instant of release from the work piece orfolding template upon the presser foot being lowered to work engagingposition.

Like reference numerals denote like parts in the different views of thedrawings.

With the foregoing objects in View, the invention involves general-lythe provision, in connection with a label or the like sewing machine ofknown construction, of a folding plate or template resiliently engagingthe undersurface of the presser plate or frame of the machine andVadapted to position a :label or work piece held therebetween, saidtemplate being arranged for operation between -an operative position ofengagement with said plate and a retracted or inoperative position ofdisengagement from said plate, and the operation of the template beingadvantageously coupled with the operating organs of the sewing machine,such as the presser foot lifting lever or the like control member andthe starting and stopping means of the machine, in an eff-ort toincrease the operating safety and to reduce the number of manual controloperations Ito a minimum.

The actual sewing of the labels may be carried out in accordance withwell-known methods, such as by operation of the presser foot or platethrough a path conforming to the outline of the presser plate or thelabels being sewn by the aid of control mechanism being in motiontransmitting connection with the main drive shaft of the sewing machine,such as shown and described in greater detail in my copending patentapplication Serial No.

v 'a a 129,852, entitled Machine for Sewing Labels and the Like, filedAugust 7, 1961, which prior application is hereby embodied in thepresent application by reference.

There is further provided in accordance with the -invention foldingmechanism comprising essentially a support being advantageously directlyaffixed to the presser `foot lifting bar or the like of the sewingmachine, said support being in turn provided with a pair of projectionsand a vertical guide slidably supporting a work folding clamp. 'Illelatter may comprise a manually operable actuating member sliding uponsaid support and a pair of clamping arms having sliding surfaces, eachsaid arms having one end pivotally connected to an end of said memberand said arms having their opposite ends terminating in a pair offinwardly directed folding claws. Said arms are urged towards one anotherby the provision of rst resilient means, whereby to cause said surfacesto engage and cam with said projections, while said member 'and in turnthe entire clamp structure are urged to an inoperative or retractedposition upon said support by the action of second resilient meansoperably connected therewith, with said member normally engaging a stopupon said support.

Said sliding surfaces are provided with suitable wedgeshaped recesses orcut-outs, whereby, with the presser foot or plate and adjoiningtemplatebeing in the raised position, operation of the clamp by 4the aidof said member in the downward direction against the action of saidsecond resilient means rst causes the arms to spread by camming of saidprojections with said surfaces and then to close or move towards oneanother upon said projec- -tions engaging said recesses, in such amanner as to engage and reversely bend or fold the projecting edges of alabel or 4the like Work piece, placed between the presser plate andfolding template, around the edges of the latter by said folding claws.`

The foregoing operation is carried out manually in the raised positionof the presser foot. Lowering thepresser plate together with thetemplate and folded label to a position of engagement of the claws withthe sewing base then results in a spreading of said arms anddisengagement of said claws from the label and template by virtue of thecamming of said projections with the recesses of the clamping arms. Inorder to automatically retract the folding clamp to its inoperativeposition, there may be provided spring-urged locking means adapted tohold the clamp in the operative -or folding position and to be releasedby said arms upon disengagement -of the folding claws from the label andtemplate in the manner described hereinbefore and further understoodfrom the following.

The control of the folding template Iby the presser foot lifting bar orequivalent control member and by the starting means of the sewingmachine is advantageously such as to cause the template, being normallylocked in its inoperative or retracted position against the action of areturn spring, to lbe released and operated by said spring to itsoperative position upon stopping of the sewing machine and subsequentlyraising of the presser foot and to be returned to and locked in theinoperative position, upon lowering of the presser plate to workengaging position before starting of the machine for commencing of alabel sewing cycle, in the manner as will become further apparent as thefollowing description proceeds.

Referring toy the drawings, the numeral 1 denotes the upright from whichextends a lower work supporting arm 2 and an upper arm 3, the latterterminating in a sewing head 4 in accordance with conventional sewingmachine constructions. Projecting laterally from the upright 1 is theend of a worm shaft 5 being in driving connection with the main ldriveshaft (not shown) of the sewing machine and serving to operate thepressure plate 62 through a` path conforming to the configuration oroutline of the label or the like work piece 63 to be sewn to a base 65,such as a garment, by Way of a control disk 6 and suitable motiontransmitting and control mechanism as shown, for instance, by theabove-mentioned copending patent application.

The presser plate lifting bar 7 is operatively connected in a knownmanner with a lifting lever 8 through a connecting member 9, FIG. 2, towhich is secured by means of screws 10 a two-part plate or support 11extending on both sides of the needle bar 12. The two parts of thesupport 11 are connected at their upper ends by a bracket 13 and areconnected at their lower ends by a Ipair of lugs or plates 14 secured toa central sleeve 15 and being joined to one another by means of a pairof screws 16 or in any other suitable manner. Extending from the plate11 or lugs 14 are a pair of projections 17, FIGS. 4 and 5, which may bein the form of attened bolts or pins and the purpose of which will bedescribed presently. Supported by the sleeve 15 is the lower end of aguide rod 18 held by means of a screw nut or stop 19 upon said rod,while the upper end of said rod is suitably guided upon the body of thesewing machine, such as within a bore of a bolt 20 supporting the needlebar 12.

Slidably mounted upon the rod 18 is a trapezoidalshaped locking member21 having two upwardly extending lateral arms 22 with outer slidingsurfaces 22a tapering towards one another. A compression spring 23 en--circling the rod 18 has one end engaging the member 21 and has itsopposite end abut against an operating member 25 extending transverselyto and being slidably mounted upon the rod 18, said member beingprovided with a handle or gripping element 25 and normally engaging thebracket 13 `forming a stop therefor in the retracted or inoperativeposition of the 'folding device, FIG. l.

The folding clamp proper comprises a pair of folding arms 27 each havingyone end pivotally connected, as at 26, to an end of the member 25 andsaid arms terminating at their lower ends in a pair of folding claws 28advantageously produced by inwardly bending the ends of the arms atsubstantially right angles, in such a manner as to provide a workfolding clamp by the elements 25, 27 and 28 collectively denoted by thenumeral 29 in the drawing. Aixed to both arms 27 at the same height area pair of further projections 30 in the form of flattened bolts or thelike, while the arms are resiliently urged towards one another by meansof a flat spring 31 encircling the member 25 such as to cause ltheprojections 30 to engage or cam with the sliding surfaces 22a. The innersurfaces of the arms 27 forming a pair of further sliding surfaces 27aare provided, at points below and at a distance from the projections 30equal to the distance between the lower edge of the member 21 and theprojections 17, with a pair of triangular or Wedge-'shaped recesses 32.

Item 33 is a sleeve placed upon the member 25 and encircling the rod 1Sand item 34 is a further coil spring encircling said rod and having oneend engaging the upper end of said sleeve and having its opposite endengaging the bolt 20 in the retracted or inoperative position of the`clamp 29, FIGS. l and 3.

As more clearly shown by FIG. 2, item 36 represents a safety lever beingrotatable in a known manner about a fixed pivot 35 and operated orcontrolled by the starting lever 38 of the sewing machine through a link37, such as described in greater detail in the above-mentioned copendingapplication, the position of the lever 36 shown in the drawingcorresponding to the operating or running condition of the machine, orretracted position of the label folding template. The lever 36 has alower extension or lever arm to the end of which is secured a at headedscrew or bolt 39 serving as a guide for the hookshaped or reversely bentend of a pulling wire or rod 40 which has its opposite end secured to ascrew clamp 41 being in turn secured to a plate 42 slidable upon the topsurface of the work supporting arm 2 of the sewing machine. The slide 42consists of two parts engaging the outer edges of the presser platecontrol member or slide 43 which controls the displacement of thepresser plate 62 in the lengthwise dimension of the arm 2, inthe mannermore clearly described in the afore-mentioned copending application,both parts of the slide 42 being joined by a cross piece or connectingbracket 45.

Secured to the bracket 45 is a support 46 for a ilat spring 47 connectedthereto by means of screws 48. Further secured to the end of the spring47 on the side of the head 4 of the machine is a folding plate ortemplate 49 having a work supporting surface 49a and folding edges 49b,FIG. 3. Secured or clamped to the end of the spring 47 supporting thetemplate 49 is a guide sheet or plate 50, extending in an upwarddirection and resiliently engaging a pin 51. The latter passes throughthe free end of .a guide rod 55 extending in the lengthwise direction ofthe arm 2 and being secured to the presser foot carrier 52 by means of ascrew nut 53 and a counter nut 54, FIG. 1. A compression spring 56encircling the rod 55 has one end engaging the nut 55 and has itsopposite end engaging a slide member 57 secured to the support 46. Themember 57 has an upper forked end adapted to receive a locking lever 59rotatable about a pivot screw 58, said lever having its free endengaging a pawl 60 mounted upon the presser foot carrier 52. Secured toVthe presser foot lifting bar 9 is an angularly bent actuating rod 61having its free end arranged to engage the end of the locking lever 59during raising of the lifting bar 9 or presser foot 62. The latter isprovided with a pair of upstanding lugs or guides 64 for cooperationwith the `claws 28 during a work folding operation.

In the following will be described the operation of the work foldingdevice according to the invention as shown by the drawings. During asewing operation, that is, with the starting lever 38 in theOn-position, the lower extension of the lever 36 is in the retractedposition, in respect to the head 4, as shown in FIG. 2, whereby thefolding template 49 connected to it through the wire 40 is also in theretracted or inoperative position, or behind the presser plate 62, FIGS.1 and 2. In this position, the spring 56 presses against the slidingmember 57 with the lever 59 being engaged and locked by the pawl 60.After termination of the sewing operation, the machine is stopped,preferably automatically, in a known manner, whereby to cause thestarting lever 38 to be operated to its Off-position to result in thescrew 39` to be displaced in a direction towards the head 4 by way ofthe lever 36. If now the presser plate lifting lever 8 is operated toraise the presser plate 62, th angularly bent end of the actuating rod61 engages the end of the locking lever 59 extending beyond the pawl 60,in such a manner as to deflect said lever in an upward direction or torelease the same so that the spring 56 will be enabled to expand and todisplace the member 57 together with the folding template 49 in thedirection towards the head 4 to a position where the template isunderneath and urged against the undersurface ofthe presser plate 62,FIG. 3, by the action of the spring 47.

The edge of the template 49 projecting beyond the presser plate y62 isnow depressed manually for the insertion of a work piece or label 63between said plate .and template, as shown in FIG. 3. During the raisingof the presser plate I62 from the position of FIGS. l and 2 to theposition of FIG. 3, the support or plate 11 is pulled in an upwarddirection by the member 9, while the spring 34 engaging the bolt 20 actsto retain the member 25 in its voriginal position by way of the sleeve33.

ber 21 until the pins or projections 30 upon said arms coincide orengage the lower edge of the member 21. At this instant, the claws 28have assumed a position ready to envelop the template 49. Due to theaction of the spring 31, the projections 30 engage the lower edge of themember 21, while the recesses 32 are engaged by the projections 17. Inthe meantime, the claws 28 have pushed the end of the labels or workpiece 63 projecting beyond the edges of the template in a downwarddirection past and around the folding edges 49a, FIG. 4, the clamp 29being held in this position by the action of the spring 23 urging theprojections 30 against the lower edge of the member 21.

The folded work piece 63 is then lowered upon the base 65 by lowering ofthe presser plate 62, through lever 8 whereby to simultaneously lowerthe support 11 by way of the member 9, in such a manner .as to cause theindividual folding elements to initially maintain their relativepositions and to cause the wedge-shaped edges of the recesses 32 to camwith the projections 17, during the last phase of the downward movementonly that is, when the claws 28 engage the base 64, thereby in turn tocause the .arms to be swung outwardly and to release the template 49from its grip with said claws, in a manner readily understood. Thefolded work piece 63 now overlies the sewing base 65 underneath thepresser plate 62, in proper operative position. Simultaneously with thespreading of the arms 27, the locking of the clamp 29 by the projections30 released, FIG. 5, whereby the clamp 29 will be returned to itsstarting position, FIGS. 1 and 3.

If the sewing machine is now started to commence a label sewingoperation, lever 38 through link 31 causes `the end of the lever 36 tobe returned to the Off-position as shown in FIG. 1, whereby to in turnretract the template 49 to its inoperative position behind the presserplate 62 and .at the same time to cause the lever 59 to lock with thepawl 60.

In the foregoing the invention has been described with reference -to aspecific illustrative device. It will be evident, however, thatvariations and modifications, as well as the substitution of equivalentelements and parts for those shown and described herein forillustration, may be made without departing from the broader scope andspirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in anillustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.

I claim:

1. Folding mechanism for a lalbel sewing machine of the type comprisingstitch forming means including a needle, drive means to operate saidneedle, a work presser plate, a presser plate lifting bar operablebetween lowered `work engaging and raised positions, said plate havingan Vthrough a path conforming to the outline of said label,

whereby to sew the edges of said label to said base, said yfoldingmechanism comprising ,a retractable folding template resilientlyengaging the undersurface of said presser plate and means to operatesaid template between an op- 'erative position of engagement with saidplate in the raised position and a retracted lateral position ofdisengagement from said plate in the lowered position, a support affixedto said presser plate lifting bar and provided with a pair of rstprojections, a vertical guide rod having `one end supported by Isaidsupport and havingits opposite end slidably mounted upon said machine, alabel folding clamp comprising an operating member transverse to tandslidably mounted upon said rod, a pair of clamping 'arms having a pairof sliding surfaces, each said arms having `an end pivot-ally connectedto an en d of said member `and said arms being provided, at their 7opposite ends, with inwardly directed folding claws, first resilientmeans to urge said arms and claws towards one another, to cause saidsliding surfaces to resiliently engage said projections, secondresilient means .to urge said clamp to retracted position upon saidsupport with said member engaging a stop upon said support, said slidingsurfaces being provided with wedge-shaped recesses, second projectionsupon said arms spaced from said recesses, a locking member resilientlyslidably mounted upon said support and having a pair of second yslidingsurfaces engaging said second projections, whereby, with said presserplate and adjoining folding template in the raised position, operationof said member in a direction away from said support against the actionof said second resilient means first causes `said arms to spreadoutwardly by camming of said first projections with said first slidingsurfaces and then to be operated in a direction towards one another uponsaid first projections engaging said recesses such as to engage andreversely bend the projecting edges of a label placed between saidpresser plate and template about the edges of said template by saidclaws and to lock said clamp by interengagement of said locking memberand said second projections, and whereby, furthermore, with said presserplate and supporting plate being lowered by said lifting bar, said clawsupon engaging said sewing base are released from said template bycamming of said first projections with said recesses such as to effectrelease of said claws from said template and to return said clamp toretracted position by the action of said second resilient meansreleasing said locking member.

2. In label folding mechanism for a label sewing machine as claimed inclaim 1, further resilient means to urge said template to its operativeposition, means to lock said template in its inoperative positionagainst the action of said further resilient means, and means to releasesaid locking means by said presser plate lifting bar in the loweredposition.

3. In label folding mechanism for a label sewing machine as claimed inclaim l, control means to start and stop said machine, fuither resilientmeans to urge said template to its operative position, means actuated bysaid control means to lock said template in its inoperative position bysaid control means against the action of said further resilient meansduring the operation of said machine, and means to release said lockingmeans by said presser plate lifting bar in the lowered position.

4. Folding mechanism for a label sewing machine comprising stitchforming means including a needle, drive means to operate said needle, awork presser plate, a presser plate lifting bar operable verticallybetween a lowered work engaging and a raised position of said presserplate, said presser plate having an outline conforming .to the outlineof a label or the like to be sewn to a base of sewing material, to holdsaid label against said base in the lowered position of said presserfoot, means being in motion transmitting connection with said drivemeans to operate said presser foot through a path conforming to theoutline of said label, whereby to sew the edges of said label to saidbase, said folding mechanism comprising a retractable folding templateresiliently engaging the undersurface of said presser plate and providedwith means to operate said template between an operative position ofengagement with said presser plate and a lateral position ofdisengagement from said presser plate, said folding mechanismcompri-sing a support affixed to said presser plate lifting bar andprovided with a pair of first projections, a vertical guide rod havingone end supported by said support and having its opposite end slidablymounted upon said machine, a folding clamp comprising an operatingmember transverse to and slidably mounted upon said rod, a pair ofclamping arms having a pair of sliding surfaces, each said arms havingone end pivotally connected to an end of said member and said arms beingprovided, at their opposite ends, with inwardly directed folding clawmembers, first resilient means to urge said arms towards one another, tocause 'said projections to resiliently engage said sliding surfaces, acompression coil spring encircling said rod intermediate said member andsaid support said member and said support to urge said member toretracted position upon said support with said member engaging a stopupon said support, said sliding surfaces Ibeing provided withwedgeshaped recesses, whereby, with said presser foot and adjoiningfolding template in the raised position, operation of said clamp by saidmember in .the downward direction against the action of second resilientmeans first causes said arms to spread outwardly by camming of saidprojections with said sliding surfaces and then to be operated inwardlytowards one another upon said projections engaging said recesses such asto engage and reversely bend the projecting edges of a label placedbetween said presser foot and said template about the edges of saidtemplate by said claw members, and means to release said template andsaid clamp to retracted position upon said claw members engaging saidsewing base after operation of said presser foot to its lowered positionby said lifting bar.

5. In label folding mechanism for a label sewing machine as claimed inclaim 4, said last means being comprised of a locking member slidableupon said rod against the action of said second resilient means andhaving at least one surface camming with a projection of said clampingarms, whereby to lock said clamp to said support upon said firstprojections engaging said recesses and with said arms assuming a minimumspreading angle in the clamping position of said claw members engagingsaid template, and whereby to unlock said clamp by spreading of saidarms upon said claw members engaging said base in the fully loweredposition of said presser plate.

6. In combination with a label and the like sewing machine of the typeincluding a work presser plate having an outline conforming to theoutline of a label to be sewn to a base of sewing material, and means tosew said label clamped between said presser plate and said base by aseam following said outline, of label folding mechanism comprising aretractable folding template resiliently engaging the undersur-face ofsaid presser plate in the raised position and means to operate saidtemplate between an operative position of engagement with and aretracted ylateral position of disengagement from said presser plate, amovable support having a pair of projections and operable verticallybetween a first upper and a second lower position iny synchronism withthe presser plate operation, a folding clamp comprising an operatingmember vertically slidably mounted upon said support, a pair of clampingarms having a pair of sliding surfaces, each said arms having one endpivotally connected to one end of said member and being provided, attheir opposite ends, with inwardly directed folding claws, firstresilient means to urge said arms towards one another, to cause saidprojections to resiliently engage said surfaces, second resilient meansbetween said member and said support to normally urge said clamp toretracted position upon said support with said member engaging a stopupon said support, said sliding surfaces being provided withwedge-shaped recesses, whereby operation of said clamp by said membertowards said presser foot and template against the action of said secondresilient means rst causes said arms to be spread outwardly byengagement of said projections with said surfaces and then to be swunginwardly towards one another upon said projections engaging saidrecesses such as to engage and reversely bend the projecting edges of alabel placed between said presser foot and template about the edges ofsaid template by said claws and to llock said claws against saidtemplate and the folded label by said second spring means, and means torelease said claws from said template and label and to return said clampto retracted position upon said claw engaging said base of sewingmaterial upon operation of said support from said first to said secondposition.

7. In work folding mechanism for ia label sewing machine :as claimed inclaim 6, Iincluding a presser foot lifting bar having operating meansfor 'operating said presser :foot between a 'lowered Work engagingposition and a raised work disengaged position, vand means rigidlyconnecting said support to said lifting bar.

l8. In label folding mechanism as claimed in claim 6, said last meansbeing comprised of a locking member also slidable upon said supportagainst the action of said second resilient means and having at leastone surface camming with `a projection of said clamping arms, whereby tolock said clamp to said support upon said first projections engagingsaid recesses and with said arms References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS `870,543 Chilton Nov. 12, 1907 1,199,822Rosenthal et lal. Oct. 3, 1916 1,246,301 Moffatt et al. Nov. 13, 19172,130,509 Regen Sept. 20, 19'38

1. FOLDING MECHANISM FOR A LABEL SEWING MACHINE OF THE TYPE COMPRISINGSTITCH FORMING MEANS INCLUDING A NEEDLE, DRIVE MEANS TO OPERATE SAIDNEEDLE, A WORK PRESSER PLATE, A PRESSER PLATE LIFTING BAR OPERABLEBETWEEN LOWERED WORK ENGAGING AND RAISED POSITIONS, SAID PLATE HAVING ANOUTLINE CONFORMING TO THE OUTLINE OF A LABEL OR THE LIKE TO BE SEWN TO ABASE OF SEWING MATERIAL, TO HOLD SAID LABEL AGAINST SAID BASE IN THELOWERED POSITION OF SAID PLATE WITH THE EDGES OF SAID LABEL PROJECTINGBEYOND THE EDGES OF SAID PLATE, MEANS BEING IN MOTION TRANSMITTINGCONNECTION WITH SAID DRIVE MEANS TO OPERATE SAID PLATE THROUGH A PATHCONFORMING TO THE OUTLINE OF SAID LABEL, WHEREBY TO SEW THE EDGES OFSAID LABEL TO SAID BASE, SAID FOLDING MECHANISM COMPRISING A RETRACTABLEFOLDING TEMPLATE RESILIENTLY ENGAGING THE UNDERSURFACE OF SAID PRESSERPLATE AND MEANS TO OPERATE SAID TEMPLATE BETWEEN AN OPERATIVE POSITIONOF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID PLATE IN THE RAISED POSITION AND A RETRACTEDLATERAL POSITION OF DISENGAGEMENT FROM SAID PLATE IN THE LOWEREDPOSITION, A SUPPORT AFFIXED TO SAID PRESSER PLATE LIFTING BAR ANDPROVIDED WITH A PAIR OF FIRST PROJECTIONS, A VERTICAL GUIDE ROD HAVINGONE END SUPPORTED BY SAID SUPPORT AND HAVING ITS OPPOSITE END SLIDABLYMOUNTED UPON SAID MACHINE, A LABEL FOLDING CLAMP COMPRISING AN OPERATINGMEMBER TRANSVERSE TO AND SLIDABLY MOUNTED UPON SAID ROD, A PAIR OFCLAMPING ARMS HAVING A PAIR OF SLIDING SURFACES, EACH SAID ARMS HAVINGAN END PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO AN END OF SAID MEMBER AND SAID ARMS BEINGPROVIDED, AT THEIR OPPOSITE ENDS, WITH INWARDLY DIRECTED FOLDING CLAWS,FIRST RESILIENT MEANS TO URGE SAID ARMS AND CLAWS TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER,TO CAUSE SAID SLIDING SURFACES TO RESILIENTLY ENGAGE SAID PROJECTIONS,SECOND RESILIENT MEANS TO URGE SAID CLAMP TO RETRACTED POSITION UPONSAID SUPPORT WITH SAID MEMBER ENGAGING A STOP UPON SAID SUPPORT, SAIDSLIDING SURFACES BEING PROVIDED WITH WEDGE-SHAPED RECESSES, SECONDPROJECTIONS UPON SAID ARMS SPACED FROM SAID RECESSES, A LOCKING MEMBERRESILIENTLY SLIDABLY MOUNTED UPON SAID SUPPORT AND HAVING A PAIR OFSECOND SLIDING SURFACES ENGAGING SAID SECOND PROJECTIONS, WHEREBY, WITHSAID PRESSER PLATE AND ADJOINING FOLDING TEMPLATE IN THE RAISEDPOSITION, OPERATION OF SAID MEMBER IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID SUPPORTAGAINST THE ACTION OF SAID SECOND RESILIENT MEANS FIRST CAUSES SAID ARMSTO SPREAD OUTWARDLY BY CAMMING OF SAID FIRST PROJECTIONS WITH SAID FIRSTSLIDING SURFACES AND THEN TO BE OPERATED IN A DIRECTION TOWARDS ONEANOTHER UPON SAID FIRST PROJECTIONS ENGAGING SAID RECESSES SUCH AS TOENGAGE AND REVERSELY BEND THE PROJECTING EDGES OF A LABEL PLACED BETWEENSAID PRESSER PLATE AND TEMPLATE ABOUT THE EDGES OF SAID TEMPLATE BY SAIDCLAWS AND TO LOCK SAID CLAMP BY INTERENGAGEMENT OF SAID LOCKING MEMBERAND SAID SECOND PROJECTIONS, AND WHEREBY, FURTHERMORE, WITH SAID PRESSERPLATE AND SUPPORTING PLATE BEING LOWERED BY SAID LIFTING BAR, SAID CLAWSUPON ENGAGING SAID SEWING BASE ARE RELEASED FROM SAID TEMPLATE BYCAMMING OF SAID FIRST PROJECTIONS WITH SAID RECESSES SUCH AS TO EFFECTRELEASE OF SAID CLAWS FROM SAID TEMPLATE AND TO RETURN SAID CLAMP TORETRACTED POSITION BY THE ACTION OF SAID SECOND RESILIENT MEANSRELEASING SAID LOCKING MEMBER.